Friday, July 27, 2007

Reaffirming Al-Baghdadi’s Alleged Identity

-‘Abu Omar al-Baghdadi’, the ‘Prince of the Faithful’ in Al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq, is not a fictitious character as he’s been repeatedly characterized by US officials and military officers.

-‘Abu Omar al-Baghdadi’ is the pseudonym used by Khalid Khalil Ibrahim al-Mashhadani, who should not to be confused with Khalid Abdel-Fattah Daoud al-Mashhadani, who allegedly told American interrogators that ‘Al-Baghdadi’ is a fictitious character after he was arrested on July 4.

-Khalid Abdel-Fattah Daoud al-Mashhadani, ‘Abu Shehed’, is not as senior in the hierarchy of the Islamic State of Iraq as claimed by US officials. He should not be confused with ‘Abu Muhammad al-Mashhadani’ who is the ‘Minister of Information’ for the Islamic State of Iraq. Abu Shehed’s first cousin, Adel al-Mashhadani, is more senior, for he leads Al-Qaeda’s battalions in the Fadel neighborhood.

-Talisman Gate would like to apologize for characterizing Tariq al-Hashemi, Iraq’s Vice-President, as a member of the Mashhadani clan; there is a notable sub-branch of the Mashhadani clan in Baghdad that uses the Hashemi surname, but Tariq al-Hashemi belongs to a branch of the same name with ethnic Turkmen roots.

Talisman Gate does not claim to have better intelligence than the professional Americans and Iraqis operating in Iraq, but I do trust my sources, and they are still adamant that what was released about ‘Abu Omar al-Baghdadi’ was inaccurate.

According to these sources, Al-Baghdadi is now hiding in the Niba’i area north of Baghdad.

The Islamic State of Iraq issued a communiqué on July 23 denying US claims that ‘Al-Baghdadi’ is a fictitious character (via al-Hesbah).